The Resourceful Koilubai

KOYLUBAI

Once upon a time, there lived a peasant named Koylubai. He was a brave and resourceful man, but very poor. He had little land and no livestock at all. The wealthy landowners always tried to oppress him. Right next to Koylubai lived four rich peasants, brothers who were greedy and cruel, earning them the nickname "Four Wolves."

One day, the brothers sowed wheat on the slope of a mountain, while Koylubai sowed millet lower down.

The time for irrigation came. Koylubai asked the brothers to let water flow onto his field, but they refused.

They even guarded their water at night!

Time passed, the brothers did not give water, and the millet began to dry up. So Koylubai decided:
"The Four Wolves are not giving me water. I will try to scare them. Maybe I can save my millet."

Koylubai thought and came up with a plan: one night, he crawled into a deep ditch next to the field of the four brothers, rolled in the dirt, bit down on a white cloth, lay down, and hid. Koylubai lay there and saw the four brothers ride up to the field, jump off their horses, and prepare to tie them up.

— Cock-a-doodle-doo! — suddenly shouted Koylubai loudly.

The brothers were frightened, looked around, and saw a terrible head sticking out. They jumped back on their horses and galloped away.

Koylubai chased after them.

The brothers raced to their yurt without stopping, while Koylubai fell behind and returned to his field.

Now he could divert the water to his land without any interference. Then Koylubai drank some kumys that the brothers had forgotten in their haste and sat down to rest by the road.

Soon Koylubai saw a rider. The rider was sitting on a gray horse and dozing in the saddle, while behind him followed a fat mare on a lead. Koylubai recognized the rider — it was a mullah from a nearby town, a greedy and stingy man.

Koylubai decided to teach him a lesson. He smeared himself with clay, wrapped a cloth around his mouth, quietly approached the mare, took off her halter, put it on his head, and started walking behind the mullah.

After walking a few steps, Koylubai stopped. The lead tightened. The mullah woke up from the jolt, turned around, and saw a monster instead of the mare. Out of fear, the mullah let go of the lead and galloped away.

He rode his horse until he reached an abandoned yurt, dismounted, and hid.

Meanwhile, Koylubai led the mare to a secluded place and then followed the mullah.

Entering the yurt, Koylubai said:
— Oh, esteemed mullah, why do you look so frightened?

— I went to a neighboring aiyl for the funeral of a rich man. There, they gifted me a mare. I was leading her home, but on the way, she turned into some kind of monster. That's why I got scared, — the mullah explained.

— You rest here for a while, and then we will find your mare together, — said Koylubai.

— Oh, don't mention her! I don't need her, — the mullah waved his hands.

Then Koylubai left, took the mare to his yurt, tied her up there, and returned to the mullah.

— Mullah, — he said, entering the abandoned yurt, — I was on my way home, and a mare stopped me, asking about you!

— Oh, don’t reveal me to her, my dear, — the mullah pleaded, — Allah will forgive you your lie.

— Fine, I won’t tell her anything, but I will go see what she is doing. You stay here quietly and silently, — said Koylubai and left.

Soon he returned and said:
— Oh, mullah, trouble! The mare is talking to your gray horse. "If the mullah comes with a halter, kick him; if he rides, take him to a deserted place!" What shall we do?

The mullah became even more frightened and began to beg Koylubai:
— Take me to the city. I will give you a fine robe for this.

Koylubai agreed. He brought the gray horse, took the mullah to the city, and received a robe in return. And he also got the horse and the mare!

Soon all the poor people in the aiyl learned about Koylubai's tricks. Everyone laughed at both the "Four Wolves" and the foolish mullah.

One day, Koylubai happened to be mowing grass not far from the yurt of the stingy Saranbai — a rich man. It was a hot day, and Koylubai was very thirsty.

"I will go to Saranbai and drink some kumys," — thought Koylubai.

He went to the rich man, but Saranbai did not treat him to kumys.

Koylubai got angry and decided to take revenge on the stingy rich man. Seeing that Saranbai was dozing next to his yurt, Koylubai sneaked into the yurt and began pouring kumys from a jug into a large bowl.

Saranbai heard something bubbling in the yurt and shouted sleepily:
— Get out! Get out!

Apparently, he thought a dog had gotten into the yurt and was licking milk.

But Koylubai gulped down the entire bowl and began pouring another.

The worried rich man got up and entered the yurt. Koylubai hid behind a partition and started shaking it with a fierce growl. The rich man got scared, ran out of the yurt, and began gathering stones to drive the dog out of the yurt. Meanwhile, Koylubai quietly left the rich man's yurt and went back to mowing as if nothing had happened.

In the meantime, Saranbai gathered some stones and returned to the yurt. There was no one there.

The rich man called Koylubai.

— What happened? — asked Koylubai.

— I was lying next to the yurt and heard that a dog got in there and started licking milk from the kettle, — Saranbai began to explain. — I got up and wanted to drive it away. But the dog crawled behind the partition and growled at me so viciously that I got scared and ran out of the yurt. And when I returned there with stones in my hand, there was no one in the yurt, and the milk was untouched. Something is not right here! — the rich man concluded with concern.

— Indeed, my rich man! — Koylubai agreed. — But did you see the dog?

— Of course, I saw it! The dog was big, black, and fierce!

— Yes, something is not right here! — Koylubai shook his head.

When Saranbai thought about having to sleep alone in the yurt at night, he became very frightened. Saranbai was not only a stingy rich man but also a coward. Therefore, he treated Koylubai to kumys and invited him to visit in the evening.

Koylubai agreed. By evening, he had mowed all the grass, and that evening he went to the rich man and feasted on meat that Saranbai had cooked for the guest. Thus, Koylubai managed to get a generous meal in a house where he had been refused a sip of kumys!

Returning home, Koylubai told all the poor people of the aiyl about what had happened, but they did not believe him.

— You are boasting, — they said. — If you are really that clever, then manage to feed us all with meat!

— Fine, — Koylubai agreed. — Do you want me to make Saranbai slaughter the fattest ram and arrange a feast for all of you?

— We want, we want! — shouted the peasants.

— Tomorrow you will all feast on fatty lamb! — promised Koylubai.

When dusk fell, he saddled the gray horse, put on a robe, wrapped a turban around his head, and headed to Saranbai.

Approaching his yurt, Koylubai spoke in a thunderous voice:
— Oh, rich man, I am your good patron. I am leaving now, but tomorrow you must slaughter your white ram with a yellow head and arrange a thanksgiving feast — treat all the poor people of the aiyl! If you do not do this, a great misfortune will befall you!

With these words, Koylubai galloped away.

When he returned home, the peasants asked him:
— Well, Koylubai, will there be a feast for us?

— Of course, there will be, — Koylubai replied, — wait until morning.

And indeed, the next day, a feast was arranged in Saranbai's yurt, to which all the poor people of the aiyl were invited. The stingy rich man slaughtered the fattest ram, white with a yellow head, and the poor people feasted to their heart's content on meat!

Such was the poor man Koylubai!

Kyrgyz Tales